Sliding Billy

"I ain't what I used to be, but who the hell is?"

136,000,000

That's a whole lotta money:

Cubs sign Soriano

The guy is a world-class power hitter, and played surprisingly well in the outfield last season, but man, that's big money.  He starts slow, and everyone will be on his ass.

posted by: SlidingBilly at 21:20 | link | comments |

Random Random Ten

1.      Run Run Run – The Who

2.      Daddy Frank – Robert Earl Keen

3.      Scherzo from Symphony #1 (Ives) – Chicago SO/Tilson Thomas

4.      Largo from Piano Concerto #2 (MacDowell) – Prutsman, National SO of Ireland

5.      The Red & The Black – Blue Oyster Cult

6.      I Feel Fine – The Beatles

7.      Susie Q – Creedence Clearwater Revival

8.      Pastorale for Oboe, Harp and Strings (Hanson) – Seattle SO/Schwarz

9.      The Ballad of Billy Joe – Rebecca Gates

10.  A Vagrom Ballad, from Symphonic Sketches (Chadwick) – Eastman Rochester Orch/Hanson

posted by: SlidingBilly at 20:40 | link | comments |

Say the right things when electioneering

Two years ago, commiserating with an old friend, I quoted Nathaniel Greene to the effect that “we fight, get beat, rise and fight again.”  Yesterday, we lost the local skirmish, but won the overall battle.

Yours truly lives in the Illinois 6^th congressional district, which has been represented for the past thirty-odd years by the bloviating Henry Hyde.  He finally retired this year, leaving his hand-picked protégé, Peter Roskam, to run.  Roskam served in the state legislature for a number of years, and is known for, among other things, supporting a bill several years ago to ban certain books, and for being in favor of privatizing Social Security, although he stayed as far away from that issue as he could. 

His opponent was Tammy Duckworth; she may be familiar to you, as she is an Iraqi war veteran who lost both legs below the knees in a helicopter crash.  I suspect the Republicans expected an easy race six months ago, but things change. 

Faced with an unexpectedly strong challenge, Roskam took the lowest available road possible and ran a truly repulsive campaign.  His entire platform seemed to be equal parts “my opponent is a liberal who eats puppies to suck their sweet, sweet blood,” and “she will personally drive illegal aliens into our district, give them Social Security benefits, and force you to let hem live in your basement.”  Truly appalling stuff.

Despite this uphill battle, Duckworth nearly pulled it off, but it was not to be.  Ultimately, it may have come down not to the vile smear campaign Roskam ran, but her not actually living in the district.  When she returned from Iraq, her house, which is a couple miles outside the district, was renovated to accommodate her needs, and she chose not to move from it.  A reasonable decision, but one that may not have helped with some voters.

Such as my sainted mother, age 78, who is a long-time Republican, though of the sensible type typical of Illinois.  She had no great love for Hyde or Roskam, was equally appalled by his campaign, but simply could not bring herself to vote for a candidate who doesn’t actually live in the district.  The numbers aren’t in, but I suspect that sainted Mom was not the only one who felt this way.

And so, we’re stuck with a mediocrity as our Congressman.  Fortunately, Roskam, being a freshman in the minority party, will be pretty much irrelevant.  Come 2008, he’ll have to run on a record, which I suspect won’t be a good one.

 

 

 

posted by: SlidingBilly at 16:32 | link | comments |